Why you’re the problem (when you should be the solution)

Everyday we encounter problems. Small ones like what to wear today or how to get a child to put their shoes on. And bigger ones like what do I do about a certain situation or where do I find the money to do this.

Our lives are filled with them. Most are inconsequential which will solve themselves or don’t need urgent action. Then there are the ones which we need to do something about right now. 

As content folk, we need to make sure that we’re tapping into the urgent problems. Because it’s those problems that need solving right now. But the trap we fall into is picking random problems, or problems that aren’t issues. Or worse, we jump to the solution without addressing the problem.

You see, problems are gold dust. They’re the hook that you need to grab someone’s attention. 

Our content needs to be about our audience and about their problem, not our fancy solution.

The importance of problems

We’re going to start from the understanding that all content is created as part of a sales process. That good ol’ funnel to move people from aware to interested to purchase. But to do that we need to pinpoint the problems our clients are experiencing. 

If we don’t know what matters to them or what they’re struggling with we can create the best content in the world but it’s not going to help us. Because it’s problems, and specifically their problems that interest them.

Now we don’t always have to be so blatant and label their problem, we can talk around it but we’ll come onto that in the next section. 

The key to good content, and content that performs well is keeping our content tied to that problem. So the same thread runs through everything and our clients start to feel like we’re the only people who fully understand them.

Recognise the stage they’re at

If we go back to our funnel there are different stages and our job is to write content that’s going to help move them through it. Going back to the start, there are some problems which are just niggles. For instance, birds have been nesting in our roof and we want to stop them before they build their nest in spring. We know it’s an issue but don’t know what to do next and really spring is miles away. 

Then there are some problems that are rearing their heads more. Like I’ve just bought some protein powder and need a shaker. Ok, I don’t need one, it’d make my life easier so I’m thinking about buying one. 

Then there are other problems which need action right now. It’s number day at my kids school next week and I have nothing with a number on it. I need to sort it out tomorrow. 

How salesy your content is and how focused on the problem all comes down to where they are in that journey. If you need examples of content for each stage check out my blog on that topic.

Empathise and humanise their problem

It’s not enough to just talk about their problem. You need to show that you get why it’s a problem, you understand how it’s impacting their life and that you care. This is your chance to build an emotional connection so that when that client comes to buy they go - Becky really understood me so I’ll work with her. 

This is where you can build on your existing blogs to dig into the problem and offer solutions. But here’s the kicker. While you are the solution you don’t want to pitch yourself as the only solution. 

We don’t like being told what to do. If someone comes up to us and says the only way to do that is with my solution. We’ll likely walk away. So instead we can present different ways of doing things, so if you’re an accountant. You might present the solution of doing it yourself, working with a bookkeeper, or working with an account (but keeping it broad), oh and you just happen to offer that service.

What you’re doing is showing how helpful and trustworthy you are which adds to your credibility when you start to talk about your solution.

Writing strategies

That all sounds simple enough. But it’s not. Otherwise we’d all be doing it all the time. But when it comes to incorporating problems into your content there’s a strategy that might help.

It’s called PAS. Problem - Agitate - Solution.

Start with the problem.

What issue are they facing? It might be that they can’t find the right person for a job. As far as they’re concerned it’s the market. 

But you can educate them on the other factors that they can control, which might be having an impact too.

Stir the pot

You want to start building out the problem here so they can see the ripple effect. This is a perfect place to start bringing in some emotion.

So they can’t find that person which means there’s a gap in the team. That individual is having to work extra hours to get everything done so they’re missing out on going for drinks with friends, or putting their kids to bed. 

Your aim here is to make them realise they need to take action.

Show the solution

You can show your hand now and explain your solution. But don’t focus on the features - highlight the benefits. So don’t explain that your recruitment agency uses a certain software package to connect clients to candidates. Focus on how your dedicated account manager will coordinate the interviews, they’ll do the research, they’ll take all the admin away so all that individual has to do is make a decision on information presented to them. It’s easy, it’s stress-free, it’s effective.

Don’t go in too heavy handed, but paint a picture of how they’ll feel after they use your service.

We all have problems. Our job as marketers or content writers is to highlight the pain of not taking action. But we don’t want to do it in a click-baity or scaremongering way. We want to build trust, confidence and empathy. Because when we do that we position ourselves as the solution before we even mention what we do.